Farewell, America

As I pack my bags to fly off for the winter, I can't seem to get out of Dodge soon enough. Asta la vista, 2016 - good riddance!

You've been a true pill of a year and I am eager to purge you out of my system for good.

I am one with Neal Gabler, who writes - [read his full article here]

Whatever place we now live in is not the same place it was on Nov. 7. No matter how the rest of the world looked at us on Nov. 7, they will now look at us differently. We are likely to be a pariah country.

The sun sets behind the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

And we are lost for it. As I surveyed the ruin of that country this gray Wednesday morning, I found weary consolation in W.H. Auden’s poem, September 1, 1939, which concludes:

“Defenseless under the night

Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,

Ironic points of light

Flash out wherever the Just

Exchange their messages:

May I, composed like them

Of Eros and of dust,

Beleaguered by the same

Negation and despair,

Show an affirming flame.”

We all now hunt for that affirming flame.

let's get ourselves into some good trouble

Today is Thanksgiving Day and this is the prayer I offer up for us all.

"With due respect for the colored ribbons we’ve worn for various solidarities, our next step is to wear something on our sleeve that takes actual courage: our hearts." ~ Barbara Kingsolver 

Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet - a woman of substance who I have admired and followed for decades.

healing heartache

As I watch President Barrack Obama's tearful thank you to his campaign staff I listen to Leonard Cohen's gravely voice, hoping to heal my grief and heartache.

I turn to Cohen's Buddhism, the Path of Enlightenment through the understanding of human suffering, to lift my spirit and soothe my soul.

The Buddha is a tremendous help right now, with supportive advice for working through my debilitating devastated emotions.

Body, mind, and heart are running amok, at war with each other, and each tearing itself apart.

home, haven, heaven

As a feisty and fierce woman I am not easily bullied or harassed.

When boarding the bus with a man-ling in line ahead spraying his kaka all over our late bus, over crowded with steaming rain soaked bodies of tired commuters eager to get home, it takes great effort to rein in a sharp tongue and prickly temper.

But I do.

The Enlightened. . . .yogi by Sanjay Sonawani

hollow horrors

As this chaotic year draws to a close, Halloween is by far the most apt occasion to celebrate before voting in the US elections on November 8.

We all need to bring back more fun and humor in our lives after the rocky horror show of this presidential campaign season.

So much rides on our choice and our vote.

If it's not screaming, it's not a TRUMPkin!

As Halloween has transitioned through the millennia - from the somber meaningful pagan ritual of Samhain to making merry of hauntings and horrors, with costumes and candies, in parades and parties of today - have we made a mockery of or important traditions and beliefs?

shooting stars & growing pains

Against the dark Jupiter, the brightest star-like object in the predawn sky, rises in the east.

As the orb of the sun creeps into the horizon, the dawn offers up Sirius, the sky’s brightest star.

Consolation for a waning gibbous moon and overcast skies eclipsing the Orionid meteor shower.

“Shot around 1 am. The night was bright because of the full moon.”
Zefri Besar, Brunei, Darussalam

These meteors or shooting stars are vaporizing bits of ice and dust trailing from the famous Haley's Comet, streaking through the night sky.

peace, baby, peace

October 2 was International Day of Non-Violence, celebrated on the birthday of civil disobedience 

pioneer, Gandhi. 

Leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence and non-cooperation, Gandhi remains a controversial inspiration of global peace 

advocates.